News

Seafish to Provide Healthy Eating Resource Pack to Every Primary School in England

17 March 2014

UK - An education resource pack that supports primary school teachers to deliver healthy eating lessons as part of the new curriculum has been made available to every primary school in England.

The new cross-curricular resource, for children aged five to eight years, supports cooking and tasting activities and looks at different species of fish as part of a healthy balanced diet. The pack links to the current curriculum and supports the new curriculum which comes in to effect from September 2014.

Seafish Board Chair Elaine Heyes and Seafish CEO Paul Williams show the Fish is the Dish education pack to Fisheries Minister George Eustice during his visit to Grimsby this week

The pack has been developed by Fish is the Dish, the consumer and education face of industry body Seafish, in response to the reintroduction of the compulsory teaching of cooking and nutrition on to the curriculum in England. However, the new slim-line curriculum will provide no central guidance, resources or training for schools in delivering food and nutrition education. Fish is the Dish has worked with the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) to develop comprehensive materials to show how teachers can use fish as a way of teaching about food, cooking and healthy eating and is one of the first resource packs to be compliant with the new curriculum.

Mrs J Steward, head teacher at Barton St Peter’s Church of England primary school in North Lincolnshire which helped to launch the pack today, said: “Resource packs such as this one from Fish is the Dish are vital to us in supporting teachers with their lessons and giving them the confidence to teach children about nutrition. Children need to learn about healthy, balanced diets from an early age and this pack provides a fun and practical way to teach them important life skills, developed around cooking and eating fish, which is invaluable.”

The pack, which was endorsed by Fisheries Minister George Eustice last week during a visit to Grimsby, contains a teachers’ guide including curriculum links and six lesson plans, workbooks, stickers and posters for children to use at school and home. It is supported by online resources, including easy to assemble recipes, peer to peer learning via cooking videos, cross-curricular worksheets, presentations and interactive whiteboard activities.

Teachers at primary schools across England can request a free pack from the Fish is the Dish website and all teaching materials are also available online with no copyright restrictions.

Roy Ballam, Education Programme Manager at the British Nutrition Foundation said: “It’s important that children understand that there are different types of fish that they can prepare, cook and eat, and that it is part of a healthy varied diet. School resources that help teachers deliver these important messages are welcome. The new slim-line curriculum has given Seafish the opportunity to provide teachers with new materials to engage children at school and to also give them a healthy start to life.”

Jo Dunlop, Marketing Manager at Seafish, said: “The BNF have their finger on the pulse when it comes to education and they have helped us to develop a fantastic set of interactive materials for children. The Teachers’ Guide is one of the best I’ve come across. Fish is full of healthy vitamins and minerals that are vital to the development of healthy, happy children. We want to help children develop a positive attitude to eating fish so that it becomes the norm for them as they grow.